A British woman killed in the terror attack in Tunisia is named by Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond as solicitor Sally Adey.
Tunisia attack: siege over leaving more than 20 dead
Speaking in Kenya, Mr Hammond confirmed that Mrs Adey was among 23 people now thought to have been killed during an assault on the Bardo museum in Tunis.
Mrs Adey, 57, from Shropshire, was a “much-loved daughter, wife and mother” and her family are “devastated by her loss”, a family friend told Channel 4 News.
It is understood that Mrs Adey was with her husband on an excursion to the museum at the time of the attack. The couple married in 1984 and have two children, Molly, 18, and Harry, 23, who are not believed to be on the cruise.
‘It just seems so random and tragic that Sally could be killed thousands of miles away from this peaceful lane, by a group of terrorists’
Her husband is understood to be unharmed and receiving consular assistance from the UK embassy in Tunis. Next of kin have been informed.
Mrs Adey, was a solicitor based in Shropshire. Her husband Rob is a partner at Midlands law firm Shakespeares.
Sally Adey lived in a tiny hamlet just near Shifnel, in Shropshire, with her husband Robert. Their cream house is surrounded by fields.
“We really are in the middle of nowhere,” neighbour Annette Crawshaw told me.
“It just seems so random and tragic that Sally could be killed thousands of miles away from this peaceful lane, by a group of terrorists.”
Mrs Crawshaw has lived next door to the Adeys for a decade.
“We were always friendly and Sally was in many ways a perfect neighbour. We always told one another when we were going away and this had been a last minute holiday that Sally and Robert had booked.”
That the holiday could have ended in this way has devastated many people here.
Mr Adey is a partner in a firm of solicitors in nearby Birmingham, which today paid tribute to Mrs Adey.
It’s understood she had retired early to help her two children, Molly, 18, and Harry, 23, get through their A-levels.
Mrs Adey once listed her family as one of her passions on a social networking site, as well as history and weekends away.
Another neighbour told me: “She was just a normal, loving mother of two children she adored. Her and her husband worked hard to provide for them and were supposed to be enjoying a holiday away together. It’s just so sad.”
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Julia Holden, a partner at the law firm, and a close friend of the family, told Channel 4 News: “Sally Adey was a much-loved daughter, wife and mother. The family are devastated by her loss. They are also saddened for others who have lost people they love, and for those who have been hurt.”
Mrs Adey was raised in Lincoln and studied at the University of Hull. She once described her passions online as ‘family, history and weekends away.’The death toll from the attack on Tunisia’s national museum is now thought to be 23. Tourists killed in the attack also include visitors from Japan, Italy, Colombia, Australia, France and Poland, officials said.
The two gunmen killed at the scene were identified as Yassine Laabidi and Hatem Khachnaoui. Laabidi was known to Tunisian intelligence services, the country’s prime minister confirmed.
In an interview with France’s RTL radio, Habib Essid said Tunisia was working with other countries to learn more about the attackers.
No one has claimed responsibility for the attack, although Tunisia has faced extremist violence before and a large number of Tunisians have joined Islamic State fighters in Syria and Iraq.
Twitter accounts linked to the jihadi group praised the killings and called for Muslims to attack tourists. The Bardo museum remained ringed by razor wire today as security forces guarded the main roads in Tunis.